Highlighting Efforts of the Red River Valley Association

摘要

The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association (RRVA) was founded as a cross-service organization of Navy and Air Force fighter and attack pilots during the Vietnam War. In 1975, the RRVA "River Rats" incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization with two priorities: MIA/POW recovery from America's 10-year war in Southeast Asia, and scholarship support to the children of members who died in the line of duty. These preliminary efforts have led the RRVA to take on additional missions, including current efforts regarding medical health issues. In 2019, in response to an inexplicably higher incidence of cancers among former military fighter and attack pilots, RRVA formed the Aviator Medical Issues Committee (AMIC) to advocate for a large Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Administration (VA) cancer study among fighter and attack pilots.